Advertisement
📅 Date & Time: Thursday, September 11, 2025 – 5:45 PM 📍 Location: Room 108, Courthouse Annex, 119 E. Solomon St., Griffin, GA
🚪 Arrival Details: Arrive early to sign in. Permission to speak at the meeting closes at 6:00 PM sharp. Only 20 people will be permitted to speak for 2 minutes each. Wearing black is encouraged as a show of solidarity for those unable to speak.
Hearing Purpose
This is a zoning appeal hearing | This meeting is a public opportunity to provide input on the future of the Gaissert Homeplace, also known as Merrybrook Farm. A demolition permit application for the historic farmhouse was submitted in May and has not yet been voted on.
About the Gaissert Homeplace
The Gaissert Homeplace is one of the oldest surviving residences in the Rover-Williamson-Spalding area and one of only a few in the region listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Placement on the Register does not protect it from demolition. It was also included on the Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation’s 2025 Places in Peril List.
1821 – Land ceded from the Creek Nation by the first Treaty of Indian Springs.
1827 – Original four-room, central hall, plain-style country house built by the Orr family, with tall narrow end facades and outside chimneys still visible today.
1852 – Rear additions and a stone kitchen (later stuccoed) built by Henry Williamson, whose family gave the town of Williamson its name.
1910 – George Columbus Gaissert added the two-story, four-column Ionic portico and porte-cochere, transforming it into a classical revival landmark.
The property’s history is tied to major agricultural and transportation routes, including the Plank Road and the Georgia Midland Gulf Railway.
Advertisement
Event Venue & Nearby Stays
119 East Solomon St, Griffin, GA, United States
